I could hear the wind whipping past my ears as I crashed, as glass flew around me, as the windshield shattered and both shards and rain hit my face. I could feel my arms being thrown back, my chest getting pummeled by the steering wheel, my legs crushed by the force of the front of my car hitting the trunk of the van in front of me. And then black.

When I opened the door to her, she handed me an angel charm. It was a charcoal grey with tiny wings and a key-chain loop at the end. “To watch over you,” she said in her soft spoken manner as she hugged me goodbye. She smelled like cinnamon and vanilla.